Brooklyn A.D.A. Yaser Othman Charged With Failing To Punch NYPD Cop

Yaser Othman

 

A Brooklyn prosecutor tried to punch a cop after the officer pulled him over for an out-of-control spin in Queens, officials said today.

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office suspended prosecutor Yaser Othman, 41, following his arrest on Saturday night.

Othman was driving fast, swerving in and out lanes on the Whitestone Expressway, before he was pulled over near the corner of Astoria Boulevard and Ditmars Boulevard a little after 6:20 p.m., according to a Queens criminal complaint.

Othman wouldn’t get out of his 2002 white Mitsubishi Galant and when the officer tried to physically remove him, officials said. Othman swung his right arm at the cop but apparently missed, authorities said.

Officers said they found a marijuana cigarette in Othman’s car.

He’s been charged with reckless endangerment, obstructing governmental administration, resisting arrest, reckless driving, attempted assault, possession of marijuana and failing to signal.

None of the charges are felonies. He was released on his own recognizance, with a promise to show up to court on July 24.

Othman had been assigned to a unit that handles both misdemeanors and felony cases in Canarsie and East New York.

The CUNY Law School grad Othman joined Brooklyn prosecutors in 2010 after serving as a law clerk in New Jersey. He’s also worked for legal aide, the New York State Attorney General's Office and the City Council.

Othman is too new a hire to have made much of a mark or establish any kind of reputation.

"I don't think he's that well-known," a courthouse source said.